TELECOM Digest     Thu, 2 Feb 95 18:11:00 CST    Volume 15 : Issue 73

Inside This Issue:                         Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    SW Bell Urged to Cut Phelps' Phone Lines (Capital-Journal via 
Kevyn
Jacobs)
    Book Review: "Fundamentals of Telecommunication Networks" (Rob 
Slade)
    MCI to Launch First Nationwide Sonet/ATM Network (Jim Collins)
    POCSAG to Be Upgraded to APOC (John Bell)
    7/8ths Heliax Sources Needed (Michael P. Deignan)

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Kevyn Jacobs <kevyn@ksu.edu>
Subject: SW Bell Urged to Cut Phelps' Phone Lines
Date: Thu, 02 Feb 1995 07:34:33 CST


 From the {Topeka Capital-Journal) Topeka, Kansas
Front page, Friday, January 20, 1995

S.W. BELL URGED TO CUT PHELPS' CHURCH PHONES

By STEVE FRY
The Capital-Journal

A prominent Topeka businessman is challenging Southwestern Bell to
pull the plug on telephone service to Westboro Baptist Church because
of what a local lawyer calls the "defaming and harassing" faxes that
emanate from there.

Kent Garlinghouse chief executive officer and chairman of M-C 
Industries 
Inc., has joined with lawyer Jerry Palmer in condemning the telephone
company for not acting to curb the fax messages of Westboro Baptist
Church.

The faxes are sprinkled with words such as "fag," "sodomite," "pig"
and "whore."

The pastor of Westboro Baptist is the Rev. Fred W. Phelps Sr. Its
congregation is composed primarily of members of his family. The
congregation is best known for its anti-gay picketing. The picketing
that began on local street corners has increasingly turned up in
locales across the nation, drawing widespread media attention.

Garlinghouse said the picketing has become so embarrassing he is
reluctant to acknowledge he is from Topeka when he meets people while
out of town on business.

He and Palmer contend it is Southwestern Bell's civic duty to take
action against what they deem is an abuse of telephone service.

"I think Southwestern Bell has been a bad corporate citizen in their
failure to use the power they have to abate the serious problem this
community has with these defaming and harassing faxes," Palmer said.

"They're like the rest of the community. They're afraid. They don't
want the litigation, the hassle" with the Westboro church, Palmer
said. Many of Phelps' 13 children are lawyers.

"Southwestern Bell could -- today -- shut off the fax service to
Westboro Baptist Church if they had the will," Palmer said Wednesday.

Anne Marie Hilday, a Southwestern Bell spokesman, said the matter
boils down to a First Amendment issue.

"Southwestern Bell is a good corporate citizen because its efforts are
aimed at serving its customers fairly and without discriminating
against any customer," she said. "However, Southwestern Bell cannot
act as prosecutor, judge and jury in determining whether conversation
between two persons is defamatory and libelous or otherwise illegal."

Garlinghouse said he hasn't been the subject of a Westboro fax, but
was cursed by a church picketer as he entered a west-side restaurant
Sept. 17.

There are more issues than just the church`s faxes, Garlinghouse said,
including church picketers on Topeka streets, entertainers shunning
Topeka and harassment of Topekans attending public performances.

Palmer contends the phone company could shut off service based on a
Kansas Corporation Commission regulation linked to abuse of telephone
service. In that regulation, there is a section dealing with calls
directly to a person that reasonably could be expected to frighten,
abuse, torment or harass that person.

Southwestern Bell's Hilday counters that the regulation is applied
within the law.

Palmer said the regulation should be extended to third parties.  For
example, if A sends a fax to B about Z, the regulation should protect
Z, Palmer said.

On Aug. 11, Palmer filed a complaint with the KCC saying existing
regulations against abuse of telephone service by voice communication
are inadequate to cover abusive facsimile messages about someone who
doesn't actually receive the fax message. The phone company contends
updating the regulation isn't needed and urged the KCC to drop its
investigation.

Palmer, a longtime Phelps target on picket signs and faxes, represents
St. David's Episcopal Church in a civil lawsuit against Westboro.

Instead of cutting off phone service, Southwestern Bell is using the
criminal prosecution route, which is quicker than a civil suit or
administrative action, Hilday said.

Southwestern Bell can place a "trap" on a phone or fax machine to
trace the number of the fax sender. After three offending calls are
received, the information is turned over to law enforcement officers,
who visit the sender to talk about the complaint.

If the fax messages continue, officers can seek prosecution for
violation of the regulation. Upon conviction, the phone company can
disconnect the offender's phone service.

So far, 14 customers have complained to Southwestern Bell about the
Westboro church faxes, Hilday said, but none has agreed to use the
trap method.

The problem with the trap method is it could make the complainant a
target for more fax messages, Palmer said. Even though the complainant
wouldn't receive future messages about himself, many outlets for the
messages would, Palmer said.

By using the regulatory route, everyone benefits because Westboro
fax messages would end, Palmer said.

Using a trap to identify the Westboro church as the fax sender is
"absurd," Palmer said.

"That leaves Southwestern Bell, probably, as the only people who don't
know where the faxes are coming from," he said.

Westboro faxes usually have church logo at the top or are signed by
Phelps, Palmer said.

In October, Shawnee County District Judge Michael Barbara found Phelps
in contempt of court based, in part, on a fax issued by the minister,
Palmer said.

It isn't clear when the KCC will complete its investigation of
Palmer's complaint, said David Schlosser, KCC spokesman. Researchers
are trying to determine whether other states offer third-party
protection.

"I think it's embarrassing," Garlinghouse said of the Westboro
anti-gay campaign. "It does not make me proud to be a Topekan. It's
amazing how many people around the country are familiar with the
Phelpses.?'

 From The {Topeka Capital-Journal} Editorial Page
Sunday, January 22, 1995

Phelps faxes: Bell, it's your call.

Sidebar: Some believe the phone company has the capacity to pull
the plug on the cult of contempt's faxes

Sidebar: This is not free speech.  It is high-tech harassment.
It is reaching out and touching someone with defamation and mass
character assassination. If you feel Southwestern Bell should
stop this madness, call the company and tell it to.


Southwestern Bell, you have been duly challenged.

It's your call now.

Several knowledgeable Topekans believe you have the power, the right
and, indeed, the obligation to end the torrent of scornful, libelous
fax messages sent by the Westboro Baptist Church over the last few
years.

The challenge is this: Do you stand up for your customers, for the
law, for Topeka and for decency?

If so, you won't stand alone. The community will stand with you.  To
those few fortunate ones who have escaped viewing the faxes from Fred
Phelps' family: You just would not believe the mean-spirited bile that
flows from Phelps' church through area fax machines -- reckless
allegations of sexual improprieties and other misdeeds, public and
private; doctored cartoons and other copyright infringements meant to
embarrass particular individuals; and name-calling and threat-making
intended solely to terrorize.

This is not free speech. It is high-tech harassment. It is reaching 
out 
and touching someone with defamation and mass character assassination. 
And 
it must stop.

Some of the victims are public officials. Some are community leaders. 
Still 
others are private citizens with the misfortune of being discovered by 
the 
Cult of Contempt.

Most importantly, they are all human beings.

They don't have to live with this.

The Phelpses have an absolute right to wallow their lives away in the
sewer of their creation. But the good people of Topeka have no such
obligation. The good people of Topeka have a right to peace and 
harmony.

The local band of haters is disturbing that peace in every way it can,
taking glee in each new wound it makes.

But it is now time for healing.

Some, including local business owner Kent Garlinghouse and attorney 
Jerry 
Palmer, say Southwestern Bell can begin the healing process.

They believe Bell can and should prevent further abuse of its 
telephone 
customers by discontinuing phone service to Phelps' church.

The question is not whether Southwestern Bell is a good corporate
citizen. It is. The only question is, can it be better?

It just might.

Perhaps to its credit, the phone company has thus far treaded lightly.
It has legitimate concerns about denying phone service to anyone based
on how the phones are used.

Unfortunately, that caution -- which many of Topeka's other 
institutions 
have shown -- is outdated. The Phelpses' willingness to stretch the
bounds of reason has made it so.

In addition, Bell clearly has an obligation to do everything possible
to prevent abuse of its customers.

The present situation calls for firm action.

Palmer argues the phone company has the power to shut off phone
service to the church under Kansas Corporation Commission regulations.
Palmer also says the KCC regulations need to be beefed up -- to
protect not just the recipient of the faxes, but the subject of them.

Bell says it simply can't take the action Palmer is prescribing.

Yet, it would seem otherwise.

Regulations clearly allow the phone company to discontinue service 
that is 
used "for a call or calls, anonymous or otherwise, if made in a manner
which reasonably could be expected to frighten, abuse, torment or 
harass 
another"

Can there be any doubt that the above describes the Phelps family of
faxes?

It's time to stop pussyfooting around.

If you feel Southwestern Bell should stop this madness, call the 
company 
and tell it to. Tell Bell to protect the law-abiding, peace-loving 
customers 
it enjoys in this area.

And once Bell steps forward to end this tele-terrorism, the rest of 
the 
community should step forward with it.

That means further action by the city government and law enforcement 
commun-
ity to bring a resolution to the pickets, by the same family, that are
intended to torment and disrupt Topeka's cultural and religious life.

And it means other good citizens and corporate citizens stepping 
forward to 
defend one another -- to take back Topeka.

The community puts it to you, Southwestern Bell. Are you the one to 
call on?

             ====================================================
Reprinted with permission of TCJ Editor Mike Ryan
Phone Conversation, 01.21.95


 From The {Topeka Capital-Journal}  Letters to the Editor
Sunday, January 29, 1995

Southwestern Bell Telephone has heard your calls, Topeka. But the
message we've received is mixed.

On one hand, we've heard from those of you who want us to unilaterally
disconnect a customer's service for allegedly sending harassing
facsimile messages. On the other hand are those who fear that such
unilateral action by a telephone company could amount to an abuse of
power. They support existing procedures, which involve safeguards for
the suspension of any customer's service. They view these procedures
as necessary to protect all customers from inappropriate limits on
their speech.

We understand and appreciate the concerns expressed by both sides of
this troublesome issue. We hope the community appreciates our 
deliberate 
approach to considering the interests of all customers.

We have heard complaints from customers claiming they have received 
harassing 
faxes. We stand ready to implement the established procedures to 
address their
concerns. However, as a regulated telecommunications provider, we have 
a gen-
eral obligation to serve everyone who requests service in our 
operating area. 
Therefore, before we suspend a customer's service we must have facts.

At a minimum, the source of the offensive fax must be clearly 
established. 
The author of a fax might not be the person abusing the service of the
complaining customer. For example, we need to make sure someone else
hasn't received the fax, then retransmitted it to the complaining
customer. To do that, we put a "trap" on the complaining customer's
telephone line. But we can't do that without the written approval of
the recipient.

Once the sending customer has been identified we can advise him or her
and law enforcement authorities that the faxes are not wanted by the
recipient. We also will let the sender know that if they continue to
send faxes to the complaining customer, their telephone service may be
terminated.

Although no customer complaining of unwanted faxes has yet to provide
the necessary authorization, we are following up with customers who
indicated a willingness to authorize a trap in response to {The 
Capital-
Journal's January 22 editorial.

In addition, we are investigating the December 19 court ruling by
Judge Barbara that may establish grounds for enforcement action under
our tariffs.  If that's the case, it could ultimately lead to
suspension of service.  We are obtaining court records, and will
carefully review those and take any appropriate action.  We are also
exploring procedures that could be implemented to deal with the
problem of harassing faxes.  There are various calling features,
including Call Blocker, that may help.

In short, Southwestern Bell Telephone is committed to taking what we
think is a responsible approach -- one that meets our obligations to
all of our customers. But we need their commitment, too. Without that,
we are limited in our ability to solve their complaints.

We are listening, Topeka -- to both sides of the story.

Melanie S. Fannon, President-Kansas, Southwestern Bell Telephone, 
Topeka


[all above reprinted with permission of {Topeka Capital-Journal}.]

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 01 Feb 1995 13:35:18 EST
From: Rob Slade <roberts@mukluk.decus.ca>
Subject: Book Review: "Fundamentals of Telecommunication Networks" 




BKFNTLNT.RVW  941128
 
"Fundamentals of Telecommunication Networks", Saadawi et al, 1994,
0-471-51582-
5, U$69.95
%A   Tarek N. Saadawi
%A   Mostafa H. Ammar
%A   Ahmed El Hakeem
%C   605 Third Avenue, New York, NY   10158-0012
%D   1994
%E   John G. Proakis
%G   0-471-51582-5
%I   John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
%O   U$69.95 800-CALL-WILEY 212-850-6630 Fax: 212-850-6799 Fax: 908-
302-2300
%P   485
%S   Telecommunications and Signal Processing
%T   "Fundamentals of Telecommunication Networks"
 
This work is intended as a text for a two-semester course at the
senior or graduate level.  The organization is slightly odd, with
discussions of data link and routing coming before flow control and
access contention, but the content is basically sound.
 
The material, and particularly the chapter end questions, show a
decided preference for the engineering curriculum.  Those wanting
practical information may wish to pursue other sources.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994   BKFNTLNT.RVW  941128. Permission 
given
for distribution in TELECOM Digest and associated publications.


Vancouver      ROBERTS@decus.ca    
Institute for  Robert_Slade@sfu.ca 
Research into  rslade@cue.bc.ca    
User           p1@CyberStore.ca    
Security       Canada V7K 2G6      

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 1 Feb 95 07:41 EST
From: Hardwire <0003436453@mcimail.com>
Subject: MCI to Launch First Nationwide Sonet/ATM Network


      networkMCI Services
      Jim Collins            
      214-918-5569
      
            MCI TO LAUNCH FIRST NATIONWIDE SONET/ATM NETWORK
            
         Network Will be First To Combine Advanced Switching and
              Transmission Technologies for Commercial Use
                                     
      
           DALLAS, TX, January 30, 1995 - MCI today announced that in
March of this year it plans to activate the world's first nationwide
"virtual" high-speed commercial telecommunications network, combining
advanced information age technologies known as Synchronous Optical
Network (SONET) And Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).
     
 Marking a major milestone in the development of the
information super- highway, the new network will be capable of
combining voice, data and video transmissions together at 155 megabits
(155 million bits of information) per second over MCI's high-speed
backbone network, currently operating at 2.5 gigabits (2.5 billion
bits) per second -- the equivalent of transmitting the entire U.S.
Mail list of names and addresses across the country in less than a
minute.
     
 "This network is the first-of-its-kind to combine both of
these advanced telecommunications technologies in one seamless
commercial operation nationwide," said John Gerdelman, president of
networkMCI Services.  "SONET and ATM will allow voice, data and video
signals to be transmitted over the same channel simultaneously, and
are vital components of the innovative multimedia applications and
information services that we are developing."

  As communications technologies converge, MCI customers will
continue to have available to them an increasing array of new
services, from advanced telemedicine applications and rapid image
transfers to remote data access and online shopping -- at the touch of
a button.

 Last year, the company introduced networkMCI BUSINESS, the
first software application combining important business tools, such as
electronic mail, fax messaging, document sharing, videoconferencing
and information services, in a single product.  MCI also launched it's
HyperStream ATM service, currently the Fastest on the market, and is
the only carrier offering SMDS.  This now gives MCI the lead in
providing the nation's most complete data services.  Other recent MCI
innovations include internetMCI, a portfolio of services giving 
customers 
easy, high-speed access to the rapidly growing and increasingly 
popular 
Internet.

 MCI continues to invest in the latest telecommunications
technologies, such as SONET and ATM, faster than other long distance
carriers.  Recently, the company added ATM capabilities and plans to
provided SONET to its Developers Lab in Richardson, Texas, bringing
the power and intelligence of these technologies to outside developers
for the first time.  The Lab, which MCI refers to as "the twenty-first
century garage," offers developers the opportunity to test innovative
applications in a live network environment.

 According to Gerdelman, MCI's goal is to create the "network
for the information age," and provide not only access to information
services, but content as well.

        "With SONET you gain certain benefits in terms of reliability
and overall network performance," said Gerdelman.  "ATM gives us the
advanced switching capability for multiple signal transmissions.
Combine the two and you have the foundation of a network that is well
positioned to generate new revenue from these emerging markets."

        MCI plans to boost its transmission speed to 10 gigabits (10
billion bits) per second in early 1996, and is currently introducing
new fiber optic technologies that will allow 40 gigabits (40 billion
bits) per second transmissions in the near future.

        "If you think transmitting the entire U.S. Mail list in one
minute is fast, just wait," said Gerdelman.  "At 40 gigabits we'll be
able to do it in only 4 seconds!"

        MCI, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has expanded from its
core long distance business to become the world's third largest
carrier of international calling and a premier provider of data
communications over the vast Internet computer network.  With annual
revenue of over $13.3 billion, the company today provides a wide array
of consumer and business long distance and local services, data and
video communications, on-line information, electronic mail, network
management services and communications software.  networkMCI Services
is the division responsible for developing MCI's information 
technology 
and operating its global intelligent network.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 1 Feb 95 11:02:18 GMT
From: ukcbajr@ukpmr.cs.philips.nl (John Bell 3313 ADV)
Subject: POCSAG to be Upgraded to APOC


To everyone interested in POCSAG, and new more advanced terrestrial
paging systems for communications in tommorrow's  world:

An overview of APOC, the upgrade to POCSAG, is now available by EMail.
If you are interested, please send a request to me (ukcbajr@ukpmr.cs.
philips.nl) stating the reasons for your interest.

This is  a summary  of the  ascii  document,  which  is about
31000 bytes long.

 --------------- Start of Summary ---------------

The need for a new paging protocol is reviewed and the basic
philosophy of the APOC code defined.  The essential characteristics of
APOC confirmed by PCIA in 1993 are greater capacity, battery life and
POCSAG compatibility than other codes (POCSAG, ERMES, FLEX) while
offering superior or at least equal call success performance. A
migration path from POCSAG to High Speed APOC is outlined. The results
of a pager network financial model comparing costs per subscriber is
shown, also supporting the commercial advantages of APOC.

 --------------- End of Summary --------------- 

Please distribute this to list servers, bulletin boards etc.  that
should know about this -- or let me know who else should know.


Thanks in advance,

John

------------------------------

From: md@pstc3.pstc.brown.edu (Michael P. Deignan)
Subject: 7/8ths Heliax Sources Needed
Date: 1 Feb 1995 10:48:45 GMT
Organization: Population Studies & Training Center


I need to find 350' of 7/8ths 50ohm heliax for an RF application I'm
working on. Cheapest I've been able to find is $4.50/ft.  Anyone have
other source suggestions?


MD

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #73
*****************************

                                                                                                                               
